Kid in the Room
by Aiko Isari
Summary: Post Frontier. Tomoki watches things change, and he's still figuring out how to deal with it.


Adolescence is troublesome.

The doctors don't know much about it no matter what they say.

Middle school knows everything about it, or at least his teachers act like they do.

Tomoki chews his lip as he looks at the career consultation paper. Saving the world as an adorable polar bear did not help him with things like puberty or adulthood. Sure, it gave him a sense of responsibility or something like it. It didn't make him any more _prepared._ Though how you could prepare to be trained to work rigorous hours and look after someone besides yourself was beyond him.

He cracks his shoulder.

It was apparently hard for Takuya too, and he had done this consultation already. He had said something about teaching, or going into it. Tomoki isn't sure Takuya has the patience for a teacher, but well, he guesses there could be worse places. Professional soccer was out for both of them, Takuya for the ankle injury he had taken three years back, and Tomoki for the fact that his body refused to get anywhere past wiry and lean. Muscle is just not allowed for him. His brother always said he was lucky whenever he brought it up.

He and Yutaka still seemed to have different ideas of _lucky._ Then again, Yutaka kept telling him that this wasn't going to set his future in stone. It feels like it regardless.

Then again, he _is_ fifteen.

Schools should take that into consideration before they hand out life altering papers like this.

Tomoki sighs and folds it neatly to return to his bag. He glances at the stoplight and down to his cell phone again. The buttons are starting to slow and not work. Poor thing doesn't have long. Somehow, that concerns him more than his upcoming career choices.

"Maybe I could be an animator," he thinks aloud. Then he shakes his head and sighs. No, there's no way. His parents would be terrified at the uncertainty and the menial labor, and he doesn't have good hands for it. It's a bigger commitment than a desk job, though, that's for sure.

Tomoki pops a mint into his mouth and looks on, dodging a narrowly running little girl. Her braids bounce as she runs and she laughs just loud enough to not get in trouble. She looks like Chiaki, somehow. Even though they'd only met a couple of times, the braids had stuck out.

Would that little girl go to the Digital World if it needed her?

Probably. It was an adventure, after all.

Would he do the same?

Tomoki wonders. Tomoki hates adolescence.

At least adulthood has solid ideas. Adolescence is too new for that.

Tomoki peers in his wallet. Just enough for a late lunch. He probably needs one anyway.

Iby the time he gets his food, the food court he's stopped at is about twice as crowded as it had been. Tomoki sighs a little, wishes for his giant hat. But it was still orange and against school regulations. And ratty. He needed a new one.

"Ah..." He heard a voice somewhere behind him. "Tomoki-kun? Is that you?"

Tomoki turns, in surprise, barely catching a loose fry. "Izumi-chan! Junpei-san!" He knows that blond hair anywhere. Izumi waves him over and he frowns. "Am I interrupting you guys?" They looked to be sitting pretty close together with their textbooks out. Could mean anything.

Izumi shakes her head. "No, don't worry! We were taking a break anyway." The beanie slides down the back of her head. Junpei reaches out and grabs it with a sigh.

"Good timing, Tomoki, Izumi-chan's science scores are trying to fall." He plops the hat back on her head with a playful grin.

Izumi punches him gently in the arm and grunts. "Chemistry is not my strong suit."

Junpei laughs and Tomoki tilts his head thoughtfully. Junpei glances at him as he sits down, watching him swallow a bit of his sandwich before speaking. "What's with the serious look, Tomoki? You had it since you got in here."

Tomoki flushes, scratching his cheek. "Uh...well, you'll laugh..." He's never been great at explaining himself, and the idea of telling his older, closest friends about it now seems really silly. They've been through it and despite everything, look pretty happy with themselves. Then again, they are his friends. They won't laugh. "but we just got our career consultation and I don't have any ideas that make sense."

They both look at each other, then back at him. "Nothing in sports," Junpei offers.

Tomoki shakes his head. "No, don't have the body for it. Sports have always been a hobby for me. I mean, I like animation and games but it would be tough to get in there and be fully self-reliant." He sighs and chews food for a moment. "guess it just feels too soon for me."

"It was too soon for me." Junpei sighs. "Switching to the business track was a huge adjustment, even with my grades."

Tomoki frowns. "Not into architecture anymore?"

"Not for a degree." His older friend replies with a shake of his head. "Not for that long of a program. Business was more stable and I didn't know I had a head for numbers." He grins. "It's normal to be worried, Tomoki."

"Yeah, especially since it's smack in the middle of exams." Izumi huffs and leans into Junpei's arm to pick up her fallen pen. "I remember they rushed my talk with my homeroom teacher because of a staff meeting. He never got back to me about it either. I mean, I've been lucky so far. Do you know what high schools they're recommending for you?"

Tomoki shakes his head again, feeling suddenly very young and small once more. He isn't much younger than his friends, but somehow, it feels more like an eternity than ever. "They said they wanted to wait until I had an idea of what I was going into."

Izumi sighs and gently touches his shoulder. Tomoki resists the urge to let it blow into a full on, public display of affection hug like he wants to, like he had done when he was a foot shorter than her. "I guess it's a good thing they're not deciding for you." She smiles. "You'll figure something out Tomoki-kun. You always do."

Tomoki fails to control his smile. To be honest, talking to them hasn't helped so far. But it's nice to hear someone agrees with his thoughts. Perhaps they aren't just childish and stupid, after all.

"Thanks," he says.

Izumi laughs. "Oh we're not done yet. Let's see what else you've got. If you have to deal with this, let's make it a pain for them!"

Junpei rolls his eyes a bit, and seeing that again makes Tomoki's heart warm. "Izumi-chan, we need to make it easy for him."

"I don't see the difference."

Tomoki laughs. "Neither do I."

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ Hi! So, this was a bit of a jump for me. I don't write much Frontier, clearly, but yeah, I thought this would be kind of cute. It was supposed to be Tomoki noticing the changes in everyone else and ended up with him noticing that, but also that of the world. A bit philosophical (and a day late, whoops!) but mostly me rambling on a little. Well, I liked it. Enjoy and please leave a little comment in the box below if you can!

Challenges: Digimon Non Flash Bingo number 595 - prompt: comment, and Diversity Writing (Digimon) C24. Write a post-canon fic.


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